A dot-matrix printer. Seriously, that's what came to mind when we saw the fastest or draft-mode output of the Epson WorkForce 610. We gaped, gawked, flashed back to the early days of PC printing: wiggly, jaggedy text - or illegible hieroglyphics in the case of small fonts - and pale, widely spaced dots forming ghostly graphics. It was absolutely horrible.

A color laser printer. That's what we thought of when we shifted to the Epson's next fastest setting, dubbed Text mode. Barely a few seconds slower - a one-page business letter with color company logo in 10 instead of seven seconds; 10 pages of black-and-white text in 43 seconds versus 36 - it nonetheless looked spectacularly better than draft mode, with dark, sharp text as small as five points and rich, vividly colorful graphics. It was thoroughly impressive.